Project that needs some "originality confirmation"

I had an idea for a portable workbench/toolbox. when i drew it up it looked like a chest, so i called it a workchest. but when i showed my design to my family, my mom said that this was a design that many women use to carry their makeup and grooming things. i dont really think thats true, but i think some outside opinions might be useful here. so a wooden chest with dimensions at 1 1/2' for length, width, and height with the top unfolding to make a workspace thats 3'x1 1/2', this is something that fashionable women would carry around or keep at their house so they can look beautiful wherever they go? i dont think something like that would ever be intentionally created for makeup.

Did you make this instructable?

i took a look at what kind of cosmetics cases there are on google images, and had i put dimensions on this, then this probably would not look like one. Out of all of the cases i saw, none of them were made to turn into a table that would be at knee length or higher when unfolded. so does that make this sketch of a design still a design for a cosmetics case?

As caitlinsdad says, the basic design is used for a lot of cases, cosmetics cases being one of them. There may or may not be a cosmetics case out there which uses the exact dimensions you had in mind. I wouldn't worry about it - there are no original ideas left...or at least very very few; don't feel bad.

Hang in there E.J. ! A friend was in development with a design firm to produce what he called "The Water Strap" basically an updated version of a bota i.e. a vinyl tube, insulated w/ a thermometer & bite tube that hangs between UR shoulder-blades for active types, but targeted at runners. He needed money for a prototype to guide overseas assemblers, but when I showed him the same thing on closeout at Amazon he gave up in disgust!

After reading that, it kinda makes me think about how hard it is to be original when making a consumer product. If you think of something awesome along the lines of an innovation or an invention, chances are, someone may have beat you to the punch.

You will essentially find that design inherent in portable cases that hold a lot of small items, whether it be tools, makeup bottles, artists tubes and paints, pencils charcoal, pastels, etc. There are mini-easels that are setups like that. You can have drawers or lift out trays to organize the small items. Makeup cases will have some sort of scissors mechanism on the sides of the layered trays to make it fold out automatically when the covers are opened. Fishing tackle boxes have the same design.

Scaled up or not, form follows function. Paint it pink or blue, whatever works.